Honey and cinnamon plum cakes

This recipe is another Nigel Slater one from his book Tender Volume 2. I’m probably coming across as a bit of a Nigel stalker. Truth be told I am. He is such a wonderful, seasonal cook. This is worth trying for the smell of syrup and butter simmering alone. The smell is so rich that drooling is guaranteed.

These cakes are not light fluffy ones, they are quite dense and moist. Perfect as a dessert with cream or served cold as a snack with a cup of tea.

Ingredients:

8 oz plain flour

1 rounded tsp baking powder

1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 rounded tsp ground cinnamon

7 oz golden syrup

2 tsp thick honey

4 oz butter

4 oz brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)

12 oz plums

2 large eggs

240 ml milk

Pre-heat the oven to 350°. I made these cakes as individual cupcakes or you can make one large cake. So either put the cupcake wrappers in a pan or line a square 9″ cake tin with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a bowl.

Warm the syrup, honey and butter in a pan until the butter melts. Stop doing everything. Take a minute to inhale that aroma, it took me right back to making flapjacks when I was little. Then stir in the sugar. Halve the plums, or cut them into quarters if they are big, then remove the stones.

Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk and whisk lightly to mix. Pour the golden syrup mixture into the flour and whisk with a large, metal spoon. Pour in the egg and milk and continue stirring until you have a loose batter without any traces of flour.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, drop the plums in and bake for 20 minutes (if you’re making cupcake size) or 35 minutes if you are making one large cake. Whichever size you’re making place a piece of foil loosely over the top of the cake and leave to cook for 10 to 15 minutes longer. Switch off the oven, but leave the cake in for a further 15 minutes, remove and leave to cool.

I love the thought of baking with plums. These look like a perfect way to start my Monday morning. Thank you for sharing with me tonight. I’m glad I stumbled upon your blog! I hope you have a beautiful Sunday full of laughter, love and more good food!

Hi, I am really interested in your recipe since I have a ridiculous amount of plums from my CSA. However, I am rather confused by your mixed use of measurements. Do you really use 8 oz (1 cup) of flour with 240 ml (almost 1 cup) of milk, a half a cup of butter, and almost a cup of syrup? It seems like it would be too liquidy. Can you please clarify? Thanks!
Brigitte

Lucky you having so many plums. Are you going to make jam? I checked my notes and the conversion of this. For better accuracy here it is in grammes – 250g flour, golden syrup – 200g (more like 3/4 cup), 125g butter and 240ml milk. The consistency is more of a pudding than a cake. It is sponge-like on top and very moist – almost soggy. I loved it, as did all the other adults, but my girls did not love the consistency.